Seele Machen
Seele Machen (魂レンダー, Japanese for "That which Severs the Soul"; German for "Soul Render") are a collection of ancient, artifacts from whom the is later derived. They were created with the sole purpose of combating during the era of Quincy extermination and vanished into obscurity following the mass genocide. At present, two of the five Seele Machen have been uncovered and are in active use at the hands of Miko Samien and Raphael. Background Prior to the mass extermination of the Quincy, hostilities sparked with the regarding the destruction of . The Quincy, being , felt it was well within their rights to defend hearth and home against the corrupted spirits and completely eradicated them with their unique abilities. The Shinigami, however, saw the potential threats this method of destruction posed to the delicate cycle of reincarnation and made it their ambition to rectify what could grow into an apocalyptic calamity. The Quincy, being proud and distrusting of leaving their fates in the hands of the death agents elected to trust in their own hands and ignored the requests of the Soul Society to cease their methods; thus sparking what would grow into an inferno of conflict. Those wise within the Quincy population set to preparing for the worst possible outcome of these newfound hostilities and devised numerous methods of elevating themselves to the level of their Shinigami opponents. Amongst these innovations was the , a devise utilized to dramatically augment one's abilities, the Lebenskünstler, a pocketwatch whose function was the conversion of into , and finally the Seele Machen: a series swords, five in total, whose internal powers were specifically wrought to combat Shinigami. Their usage was scarce however. The vast majority of the Quincy population were barely Ichinose level in effectiveness and much preferred utilizing their spirit bows and arrows rather than master an entirely new form of combat. For this cause, production of the Seele Machen was halted after the creation of five blades. Following the genocide, the Seele Machen, along with most Quincy artifacts, vanished into the realm of obscurity. However, two of the Seele Machen, Caliburnus and Durandal, were recently unearthed and are in active use. Overview .]]As aforementioned, the Seele Machen are weapons forged for the express purpose of combating Shinigami and are the ancestors of the present Seele Schneider. As such, their abilities revolve around inflicting as much damage upon spiritual beings as possible. To begin, their very anatomy is composed of a metal called "Soul-Synthesized Silver", an element employed in Quincy innovations even to the present. This metal is forged through spiritual means and is exceptionally durable, able to withstand harsh punishment from both the mundane and the ethereal. In terms of abilities, the Seele Machen each house a single, Gintoesque skill which is unique to the blades themselves. This ability "pays homage" to the enemy's ability, and generally revolve around the manipulation of a single element or combat enhancement. Otherwise, each Seele Machen functions the same. Primarily, the Seele Machen house the ability to interrupt the flow of spiritual energies within a target, in particular, the communion between Shinigami and Zanpakutou. Through prolonged exposure to the in question, a wielder of the Seele Machen could essentially block the Shinigami's ability to release their Shikai or and could even revert active Shikai or Bankai back to their lesser forms. Of course, the amount of exposure depends entirely upon the strength of the Shinigami in question, and it is seldom that a Ichinose class Shinigami possesses the ability to survive against a level Shinigami. It is presumed that the is a testament to the Seele Machen's ability to interfere with Zanpakutō communion. Next, the Seele Machen house the abilities present in their derivatives: the Seele Schneider. Their blades are basked in a perpetual aura of aqua; a pure layer of reishi that dramatically increases the raw cutting power of the blade to match that of a chainsaw or greater. In addition, the Seele Machen possess the ability to break down and absorb the energies present in certain techniques employed by spiritual beings, though overloading a blade with too much energy results in unattractive cracks upon the blade. Though the swords themselves are nearly indestructable as far as human standards go, they are capable of being forever destroyed through absorbed-reishi overload. The Seele Machen *Caliburnus (エクスカリバ, Japanese: "Ekusukaribā"; German: "Zeigereiss") is the Seele Machen currently wielded by Miko Samien. It appears as a sword of Japanese origin and design with prevalent hues of aqua, gold, and onyx. There are a few visible cracks upon its surface from Miko's attempt at absorbing a Hollow's . In terms of applications and affinities, Caliburnus seems to have an innate control over the element wind/air. This affinty seems to affect the reishi composed worlds of Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society no different than the kishi composed World of the Living. *Durandal (デュランダル, Japanese: "De~yurandaru; German: "Durandal") is the Seele Machen currently wielded by Raphael. It appears as a western sword in contrast to Caliburnus, being similar to a long-sword in appearance. It has a prominent gold hilt, and red jewels engraved into it, along with a few gold sreaks as patterns. Durandal itself has the ability to produce and manipulate golden energy into a variety of forms. The golden energy in question is of a silk-like consistency but bears immense durability and weight. *Kusanagi *Hrunting *Weltschneider